


The Winner Takes It All

by tbmd1066



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: ABBA music, F/M, I can't believe I've written a song fic what year is this??, Moblit the disastrous drunk, does this actually qualify as a song fic I'm not sure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 21:33:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5841772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tbmd1066/pseuds/tbmd1066
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If you had asked Levi, he would have speculated that Hange’s singing was like her laugh. It would crack frequently and be loud and annoying to most people.<br/>However, that was not the case.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Winner Takes It All

Hange was many things. She was a brilliant scientist, a good soldier, a good listener, a bit scatterbrained, she was taller than Levi but still short, she was energetic, kind, reckless, she had a terrifying temper, and a crazy laugh. None of this surprised Levi anymore because he'd learned about her over the last few years in the corps. Learned too much, maybe. But there were still things that did surprise him. 

Like her singing. 

If you had asked Levi, he would have speculated that Hange’s singing was like her laugh. It would crack frequently and be loud and annoying to most people.

However, that was not the case. 

The first time he heard her sing was at the pub near headquarters. She wasn’t drunk, at least not _very_ drunk. Moblit, on the other hand was completely plastered.

“Squuad Leder, sing with me!” he slurred, tugging on her arm. “C’mon… saw leder.”

“Alright, alright, Moblit.” Hange said. “What are we going to sing?”

Moblit had two stages of intoxication; fun drunk and depressing drunk. Fun drunk came first, but after a point, he would just collapse into tears for the rest of the evening. Moblit was still in the first stage, clearly, as he burst into song.

“ _I don’t wanna talk… th’way we used to.”_

Hange laughed. “That’s not how that goes, Moblit.” 

“Yes it is, it’s—”

“I don’t want to talk, about things we’ve gone through.” Hange said.

Moblit’s head flopped backwards as his mouth dropped open. “You’re riiight!” he said, and promptly burst back into song. “I _don’t wanna talk about things we've gone through… though it’s hurting me, I ate seven bees!_ ” 

Hange laughed again. “Are you serious?”

“Nah, ‘m drunk.” Moblit grinned. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll help you with the words.”

“Yaayy.” Moblit bounced up and down. 

Hange took a deep breath, and Levi took a sip of his whiskey. 

“ _I don’t want to talk, about things we’ve gone through. Though it’s hurting me, now it’s history.”_

Levi nearly choked on his whiskey. Hange’s voice was gorgeous. It was deep, and soft and rich. Moblit joined in, still slurring quite a bit, but otherwise not that bad. 

“ _I’ve played all my cards, and that’s what you’ve done, too. Nothing more to say, no more ace to play.”_

_“THE WIINER TAKESIT ALLL”_ Moblit shouted somewhat melodiously. Hange laughed, knocked back her drink and joined him in volume. However, she actually was pulling it off.

“ _The loser standing small! Beside the victory, that’s my destiny!”_

Levi was watching them intently, as was most everyone else in the pub. 

_“I was in your arms, thinking I belonged there. I figured it made sense, building me a fence, building me a home, thinking I'd be strong there. But I was a fool, playing by the rules.”_

Levi had never particularly liked the pub, he only went because sitting alone in his room wasn’t much fun either. Tonight though, it was amazing. The lights he had once thought dingy were highlighted beautifully in Hange’s eyes, softly curving around her smile. 

“ _The gods may throw a dice, their minds as cold as ice. And someone way down here loses someone dear.”_ Levi raised an eyebrow. Moblit seemed to be straying into phase two of his intoxication, but if Hange noticed she gave no note. She was engrossed in the song. _“The winner takes it all, the loser has to fall. It’s simple and it's plain, why should I complain?_ ”

Hange then looked at him, a wistful, but still playful expression on her face. Moblit had stopped singing and was now slumped against her shoulder, crying softly. “ _But tell me does she kiss… like I used to kiss you?”_ Levi narrowed his eyes in a withering glare that he knew never worked on Hange. “ _Does it feel the same when she calls your name? Somewhere deep inside you must know I miss you. But what can I say? Rules must be obeyed.”_ Hange winked at him. “ _The judges will decide. The likes of me abide. Spectators of the show always staying low. The game is on again, a lover or a friend_.” Levi’s breath caught embarrassingly as she stared directly at him when she sang the word lover. He felt his face heating as he remembered just how many of his fellow soldiers were in the bar, and that all of them were listening to Hange sing. She hand’t seemed to catch on.

“ _A big thing or a small, the winner takes it all!_ ” Hange’s voice became quieter then. “ _I don’t wanna talk, ‘cause it makes me feel sad. And I understand, you’ve come to shake my hand. I apologize if it makes you feel bad. Seeing me so tense, no self-confidence.”_ Levi rolled his eyes, and Hange grinned. She was clearly having the time of her life. She gave him that smile that he’d never liked because it always meant she was about to blow him out of his seat. _“But you see, the winner takes it all!”_ All Levi could do was stare. Her voice was incredible as she held the note, loud and pulsing through the pub. If there’d been anyone not listening before, they had to be now. _“The winner takes it all!”_

Moblit had actually _sat up_ , after being slumped over, to listen to Hange singing and Levi was pretty sure that that had never happened before. Hange twisted from under him and moved away from the bar to look at them both. 

“ _The game is on again!_ ” she beamed. “ _A lover or a friend_.” She nodded her head to the beat of the song, which was only audible in the rich vibrato of her voice.

“A big thing or a small, the winner takes it aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!” several cheers rang out from around the pub as Hange’s vibrato carried the note long and strong throughout the entire establishment. When the note finally died down, it didn’t dwindle into nothingness as Hange ran out of air. It ended as strong and pure as it had started. Everyone burst into applause, even Moblit, who was practically half dead now. Hange was practically glowing.

“Pretty impressive, four eyes.” Levi said. 

“Why, thank you.” she said, and winked at him. She looked over at Moblit. “I’d better take you home.” she said. Moblit nodded, and slumped into her arms.

“Good idea, get out of here before the cadets start asking for your autograph.” 

Hange laughed. “Care to help me? He’s basically dead weight now.”

“Sure.” Levi hooked one of Moblit’s arms around his shoulder, and they left the pub, barely stopping when several people along the way offered compliments to Hange. 

“I’ve never heard that song before.” Levi said as they made their way back to headquarters.

“Moblit and I used to sing it a lot when we were in the Cadets Corps.” Hange said. “I don’t know where he learned it.”

Not for the first time, Levi regretted that he had never trained in the Cadets Corps. Hange spoke of it fondly. He supposed it must have been quite nice as compared to the relentless bloodbaths she was exposed to in the Survey Corps.

“It’s sad, isn’t it?” Hange said.

“You like singing it, though.” Levi pointed out. 

Hange nodded. “I do. I like the long notes, and the passion. I can never do it justice, the music just makes me happy, even when the words are sad.” 

“It doesn’t remind you of…” Levi trailed off.

“Of loss?” Hange suggested.

“Yeah.”

“It does.” she said. “But…” she bit her lip, considering her words. “It’s okay to be sad sometimes. Not all of the time, of course.” she looked at him a little more pointedly than Levi thought she needed to. “And the song reminds me more of good times with friends than it does of… of me losing those friends.”

Levi considered this. 

Hange hauled Moblit’s ass into his quarters. She tugged his boots off, but left the rest. 

“Good night, Moblit.” she said.

Moblit did not reply.

“Maybe turn him on his side in case he throws up in his sleep or something.”

“Gross.” Hange said, smiling, and did so. She then walked Levi to the staircase, as his room was the next floor up from hers.

“See you tomorrow.” she said.

Levi felt a slight discomfort in his chest. He didn’t want her to go. “Hey, Hange.” _‘Ridiculous_ ,’ he thought. _‘You’ll see her in the morning.’_ She turned back to him. “Um, you have a nice voice.” he said. ‘ _What kind of ridiculous shit is that? A direct compliment. I’ve lost my mind.’_

She had a stunning smile.

“Thanks, Levi.”

“Yeah, you… you should sing more often.”

Hange’s eyes widened, and then she stared at him in the way she often stared at her research notes. She was trying to figure him out. He never felt comfortable under that gaze, and she gave it to him quite frequently. She stepped closer to him. With his standing on the bottom step, he was actually just slightly taller, and she had to tilt her head up to look him in the eye. 

“ _The game is on again.”_ she sang, quieter, and softer, at a higher pitch than she’d sung in the pub. “ _A lover or a friend.”_ Levi realized his breathing had picked up significantly as her nose almost brushed his. “ _A big thing or a small, the winner takes it all…”_ Levi wondered if she would kiss him. He knew that if she did, he wouldn’t pull away. She tilted her head a little, a small smile curving her lips. Levi closed his eyes.

And then she pulled back. Levi opened his eyes to stare at hers, blazing in the candlelight. “ _The winner takes it all_.” she sang, and walked away with a brazen, confident look and a swing in her step.

Levi stood on the staircase for a moment, and then shakily climbed up to his room. 

**Author's Note:**

> see you can't use the phrase "She's gonna eat him alive" in this fandom because it might be taken literally
> 
> this fic based on a video of Romi Park (Hange's Japanese VA) singing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvXsT3E3JGw which I realised sounded a lot like Meryl Streep's singing The Winner Takes It All in Mamma Mia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiKWoesoRN8 I think they're in the same key and they have the same sort of stunning soaring notes, so idk. I should look up and see what Jessica Calvello's singing is like...
> 
> EDIT: Added the bit with Hange talking about the sadness of the song.


End file.
